Diaphragm valve



Feb. 16, 1954 RA W|TTMANN 2,669,249

- DIAPHRAGM VALVE:

Filed Nov. 2, 1949 @g1 gf l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l 1 l 1 l' m 36 @fafa Mmm/ accaee 3 the passageway 84 with conduits such as the conduits 90 and 92.

It will be readily seen that if the total forces exerted by fluid in the first chamber 82 on the surface of diaphragm 53, together with the forces of gravity acting on the diaphragm 58 and the valve member 56, exceed the total forces exerted upwardly by fluid against the exposed under surface of the diaphragm 58, then the diaphragm will be urged downwardly and the valve member 56 will be seated upon the valve seat 50. When that condition is reversed, that is, the total force acting underneath the diaphragm 56 exceeds the total force, including the force of gravity, acting downwardly, the Valve member 56 will be unseated and fluid under pressure may flow from the second chamber 83 through the passageway 48 into the third chamber 65 and thence to the outlet 36 and the conduit 38.

To illustrate the action of the Valve 56, assume, for example, that fluid of equal pressure enters the rst chamber 82 through conduit 90 and the second chamber through conduit 30 and that conduit 92 to the T-connection 88 is blocked. Then the total forces acting downwardly with respect to diaphragm 58 and valve 56 will exceed the total forces actingupwardly because the exposed portion of the upper surface of the diaphragm 58 is larger and because of the additional force exerted by gravity on said diaphragm and the valve member. Then the valve member 56 will be seated on the seat 56. Then assume that conduit 92 is unblocked so that fluid under pressure coming through conduit 96 may then flow through said conduit 92. That may relieve the pressure on the upper side of the diaphragm 53, whereupon the greater forces acting upwardly will unseat the Valve member 56 by pushing the diaphragm 5B upwardly. The second chamber 83 and the third chamber 55 are then put into communication through the passageway 43. The valve member 56 will continue to be unseated because of the large now of gas through the large conduit 36, providing a total force upwardly against the diaphragm 53 greater than the downward forces including the forces exerted by gravity. If the flow of gas through conduit 36 is cut off, then diaphragm 58 will drop and seat the valve 56. 1t will be apparent that the control of gas under pressure in chamber 82 could be by automatic or manually controlled means interposed in a single conduit such as conduit 90, or in a conduit such as conduit 92, and that such means could be remote from the casing 44 or could be carried by said casing.

For an example of the operation of the valve member 12, let us assume that conduit 92 is blocked and that uid under equal pressure is acting in the first chamber and the second chamber. By reason of the passageway 68 between the second chamber 83 and the fourth chamber 66, equal pressure will exist not only in the rst and second chambers but also in the fourth chamber. If the third chamber 65 is substantially at atmospheric pressure, then the iiuid under pressure in chamber 66 will exert a greater total upward force than the total downward force, including the force of gravity acting on the flexible diaphragm 16 and valve member 12. The result will be that the diaphragm 16 is driven upwardly and will carry with it the valve member 12 and chamber 66 will thereby be brought into communication with the passageway 13 and the conduit 16. However, when the 4 diaphragm 58 is raised and thereby unseats the valve member 56, the total forces acting downwardly on the flexible diaphragm 16 and the valve member 12 will exceed the upward forces and will serve to seat the valve member 12 on the seat 14 and close off fourth chamber 66 from the conduit 16. That is to say, when the valve member 56 opens, the valve member 12 closes.

Turning now to Figure 2, the valve mechanism 34 is the same in all respects as that shown in Figure 1, except for the second passageway 64, in the form of an opening through the casing 44, which leads into the fourth chamber 66. The passageway 64, as may be seen, has direct communication through the fourth chamer 66 with the passageway 66 which leads between the second chamber 83 and the fourth chamber 66. A conduit 62 may be disposed in passageway 64. When the valve member 12 carried by diaphragm 16 is moved from its seat 14, the passageway 68 is in communication with both the conduit 16 and the conduit 62. For some applications of the valve wherein the additional passageway 64 is of use, reference may be made to my copending application, Serial No. 767,707, filed August 9, 1947.

The valve mechanism illustrated in Figure 3 is substantially the same as that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The passageway 64 which extends into the chamber 66 is present but in lieu of the passageway 68 of Figure 1 (which passageway extends from the second chamber 63 to the fourth chamber 66 through apertures in the wall means 46 and the ilexible diaphragm 16) there is substituted a passageway 61, in the form of an opening through the casing 44, which extends into direct communication, through the chamber 66, with the passageway 64. The passageway 61 may be employed for a variety of purposes but, by way of example, it will be seen that said passageway may have a conduit 122 secured in it and said conduit may communicate through a timing valve and conduit H8 and temperature responsive Valve H4 and conduit H6 with the conduit 36 which has direct communication with the second chamber 83. It will be seen that the conduits H6, H8 and |22 may take the place of an internal passageway, such as the passageway 68 of Figure 1, so that additional control mechanism may be employed. When the diaphragm 16 is raised and moves the valve member 12 from its seat 14, the passageways 61, 13 and 64 may communicate with each other.

In Figure 4 the valve mechanism 34 is similar to that of Figure l and the various elements which are the same are identied by the same reference numerals, as has been the case with Figures 2 and 3. The prim-ary difference between the valve mechanism `of Figure 4 and that of Figure 1 lies in the substitution for passageway 68 of a 'passageway 33 from the inlet 32 through the wall of the casing 44 to the fourth chamber 66, with the valve member 12 being disposed to close off the passageway 33, at said fourth chamber. A passageway 64, in the form of an opening through the casing 44, communicates with the passageway 33 when the valve 12 is carried upwardly by the flexible diaphragm 16.

In Figure 5 the valve mechanism 34 is similar to that illustrated in Figure 4, except that the passageway 33 is not employed and a passageway 13, in the form of an opening through the casing 44, is employed, with the valve member 12 being disposed ,above it. The diaphragm 58 a fluid-tight casing adapted to be'interposed in the conduit and having a fluid inlet and a fluid Outlet, wall means dividing the interior of the casing into two parts and defining a passageway between said parts, said first part being divided by a rst fiexible memberinto a first chamber and a second chamber with the second chamber being connected directly with the fluid inlet and being connected by means of the passageway with a third chamber, said second part being divided by a second flexible member into said third ch-amber and a fourth chamber, with the third chamber being connected directly with the fluid outlet, a passageway extending from the inlet chamber through the wall of the casing to the fourth chamber, a passageway leading into the first chamber, an opening through the casing leading into `the fourth chamber, a first valve member carried by said first flexible member and adapted to close said passageway between the second and third chambers, and a second valve member carried by said second fiexible member and `adapted to close off, at said fourth chamber, the passageway through the wall of the casing which leads to the fourth chamber.

8. Means for controlling the fiow of fluidin a conduit, said means comprising, in combination, a uid-tight casing adapted to be interposed in the conduit and having a iiuid inlet :and a fluid outlet, wall means dividing the interior of the casing into two parts and defining a passageway between said parts, said first part being divided by a first flexible member into a first chamber and a second chamber with the second chamber being connected directly with the fluid inlet and being connected by means of the passageway with a third chamber, said second part being divided by a second flexible member into said third chamber and a fourth chamber, with the third chamber being connected directly with the fluid outlet, a passageway into the first chamber, three openings through the casing into the fourth chamber, a first valve member carried by said vfirst flexible member and adapted to close the passageway between the second and third chambers, and a second valve member carried by said second flexible member and adapted to close olf one of the openings into the fourth chamber from the other two openings of said fourth chamber.l

9. Means for controlling the fiow of fluid in a conduit, according to claim 1, including a permanent magnet connected with one of the valve members, and means carried by said casing toward which said magnet is adapted to be attracted when said one valve member is moved toward said means.

10. Means for controlling the fiow of fluid in a conduit, according to claim 1, including a perm-anent magnet carried by the casing, and means connected with one of the valve members, which means is adapted to be attracted toward said magnet when said one valve member is moved toward said magnet.

11. Means for controlling theflow of fluids in a conduit, said means comprising, in combination, a fluid-tight casing adapted to be interposed in the conduit and having a fiuid inlet and a fiuid outlet, an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber within the casing with wall means separating the chambers and defining a passageway between the chambers, a valve seat at one end of said passageway, a second passageway, said second passageway leading into the inlet chamber, a third passageway, said third passageway leading to the outlet chamber, a first diaphragm in `said second passageway, a second diaphragm in said outlet chamber separating the fluid outlet from said third passageway, a valve member for said valve seat carried by said first diaphragm, and a valve member carried by the second diaphragm adapted to close said third passageway, a permanent magnet connected with the firstmentioned valve member, and means carried by said casing toward which said magnet is adapted to be attracted when said first-mentioned valve member is moved from the valve seat.

12. The control means of claim 1 wherein the second passageway has a smaller effective cross sectional area than they fluid inlet and the third passageway has a smaller effective cross sectional area than the first named passageway.

13. The control means of claim 1, in which the position of said rst valve member is governed by the difference between the total forces acting in opposite directions with respect to said rst diaphragm and first valve member including the fluid force from said inlet acting on one side of said first diaphragm and the uid force in said second passageway acting on the other side thereof, the position of said second valve member being governed by the difference between the total forces acting in opposite directions with respect to said second diaphragm and second valve member including the fluid force vin said outlet chamber, as governed by the position of said first valve member, acting on one side of said second diaphragm.

14. A valve comprising a casing having a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, wall means in said casing dividing said casing into an inlet chamber and an outlet chamber and defining a valve port between said chambers, a first diaphragm positioned in said inlet chamber and having one surface thereof exposed to flow from said fluid inlet, first passageway means in said casing, the other side of said first diaphragm being exposed to fluid flow through said first passageway means, a first valve carried by said first diaphragm and normally biased by its own weight to close said port, a second diaphragm positioned in said outlet chamber and having one side exposed to flow through said fluid outlet, second passageway means in said casing, the other side of said second diaphragm being exposed to flow through said second passageway means, and a second valve carried by said second diaphragm and normally biased by its own weight to close said second passageway means, said first valve being adapted to be moved away from said port to open said port upon occurrence of greater total force on said one side of said first diaphragm than on said other side of said first diaphragm to accommodate flow of uid from said inlet to said outlet, whereby said one side of said second diaphragm is subjected to fluidflow from said inlet tending to hold said second valve in position to close said second passageway means.

ROBERT A. WITTMANN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 763,714 Boekel June 28, 1904 1,934,548 Kellog Nov. 7, 1933 2,235,304r Toussaint Mar. 18, 1941 2,244,555 Harris June 3, 1941- 2,265,210 Waddell Dec. 9, 1941 2,490,420 Davis Dec. 6, 1949 

